Editor’s View: Retirement is tough but also a gift
© AdobeStock/arts How simple it can be to put off till tomorrow what doesn’t have to be done today – yet often these things have a habit of catching up with us.
Backpage ruminator Will Evans this week pays tribute to a farmer local to him who has brought his time as a milk producer to a close.
Will, a former dairy farmer himself, paints a vivid picture of the sense of loss that many feel in the day and weeks following an abrupt change of routine that I’m sure will resonate with many others.
See more: Farmers Weekly campaign seeks to unite meat sector
About the author
I don’t know – and nor do I need to – whether this is due to the farmer reaching retirement age but picking the right time to start and stop an enterprise is a challenge that everyone reading this will have to grapple with at some point.
It is something my own parents have been quietly planning for since I took the heretical decision to leave the farm and forge a career as a journalist.
My Easter trip home was likely to be the last time that I could go back and see cows in the yard as my parents have made the decision to disperse what is left of the suckler herd.
This feels like a true end of an era. Ever since I moved away, the knowledge that the cattle were there (as well as the sheep) somehow meant I didn’t feel as removed from proper farming as I am.
Why am I droning on about my personal circumstances? Well, I was jolted out of feeling sorry for myself when reading another piece published this week.
Change of circumstances
In the Business section we have an article (on FWi on Sunday 16 April) on how to prepare your business for unexpected circumstances – not the gentle perambulation towards retirement but the unforeseen incapacitating incident or illness.
It is a timely reminder that those who get to choose when to stop are the fortunate ones.
Others find that the retirement they have delayed until an unforeseen point in the future is suddenly forced upon them following a change in their health or circumstances.
These are tough conversations to have even with business associates to whom you are not related, let alone the family members that form the backbone of so many farming businesses – no one likes spending time contemplating difficult scenarios for too long.
Unfortunately, the alternative can mean more confusion and grief for family members.
I’d like to pay tribute to Matthew Berryman for sharing his story as a way to highlight the importance of this, and wish him well with recovery from his operation.
On a cheerier note, it’s uplifting to see in the Opinion pages (14 April issue) that retired farmer Charlie Flindt is making such a brisk start to life after crop production, beginning with putting his Red Tractor renewal letter, and others, into the shredder.
Meat: Our Expectations
Discussions have continued in the industry on how standards can be raised to reduce the chance of, or prevent, food fraud and food safety rules being broken – the purpose of the Meat: Our Expectations campaign.
Word reaches me that the Food Standards Agency has convened its own meeting of stakeholders this week for a “lessons learned” exercise following allegations that imported meat was labelled British.
It is to be hoped that all differences can be set aside in protection of the prize here: preserving the integrity of the meat supply chain.